OCTOBER 27, 1997

TWR Yamaha V10 is go!

TOM WALKINSHAW says he will not be making an announcement about engines until the middle of November but there is no doubt that his deal is now in place and we hear that Yamaha has agreed to increase its financial and technical commitment to Formula 1.

Yamaha's five-year deal with Engine Developments has now come to an end and it is significant that in recent days TWR has begun a major recruiting campaign to find engineers for "an international project". We are quite sure that this is the new Yamaha engine which we expect will be based on Brian Hart's V10 engine and will be developed by the TWR engine department at Leafield. Hart is expected to be involved throughout the project, rebuilding the engines and helping his old Cosworth colleague Geoff Goddard - the TWR F1 engine boss - with the development. Yamaha is expected to put in more money but also to make available more calculation and computational capability.

Walkinshaw made one announcement at Jerez. Pedro Diniz is to stay with the Arrows team not only in 1998 but also for 1999 as well. Diniz brings considerable sponsorship with him from Brazil - notably from Parmalat and Kibon - and has done a good job for Walkinshaw since they first worked together at Ligier in 1996.

The team is expected to keep its backing from Danka for a second year. Power Horse will not be involved next year and Zepter is still to make up its mind but the team is getting some extra backing from the Finnish telecommunications company Nokia, which is hoping to be associated with the team's new driver Mika Salo.

Former Arrows owner Jackie Oliver has recently started working as the team's marketing director in place of Tony Dowe, who left to join the Panoz sportscar operation in the United States.